‘Miska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!’ were the four magic words that we used, to be able to see the famed Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. These words probably bring back many childhood memories of favourite cartoons and their characters. Even before we learnt how to speak, they had already become an integral part of our lives. Donald Duck was one such character, a favourite among children for his unusual voice and comedic and incoherent spurts of anger, cursing out everything in a voice that no one understood. As surprising as this is, there are many theories and comic strips that suggest that Donald Duck suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event. Even if you weren’t directly involved in it, the shock from it can be so devastating that it causes great distress.
Donald Duck has been known to have a short temper. In an episode called Commando Duck, which can be found on the internet under the same name, Donald is shown joining the American army in World War II to fight against the Japanese. He is tasked with a mission to wipe out an entire Japanese base. The mission includes Donald avoiding a river filled with crocodiles, getting away from the snipers and finally infiltrating the Japanese base to destroy it. While the general is giving the orders to Donald, his legs buckle underneath him by the realization of the sheer gravity of the task. He channels every ounce of courage left in his body and sets out for his mission, which he somehow succeeds in completing through a series of fortunate events. While on this mission, he not only destroys the Japanese soldiers but also their families, and this probably leaves a bigger scar on him.
After the war, his demeanour becomes a more violent one. For instance, there is one comic strip which was dated to before the war. In this strip, Donald’s nephews wake him up by pouring ice on him, to which his reaction is a chase and some stern scolding. Another comic strip had a very similar story, the only difference being that it was post-war. In this 1945 comic issue, Donald’s nephews wake him up with firecrackers and he thinks that he is back in the war. He thinks of his nephews as the Japanese and tries to attack them with a broomstick, which is what he thinks resembles a rifle. He calls them racist Japanese slurs and says things about ending their lives, asking them to swim back to their land.
Image Courtesy – Reddit
The symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares, inability to sleep at night, severe anxiety and in some cases uncontrollable thoughts about the event. These symptoms may start showing up within one month of any traumatic event, or it might even take years in some cases. An episode which highlights this shows Donald’s alarm ringing in the morning and waking him up from his slumber. As soon as he wakes up, he has flashbacks of the war. The flashback shows the episode ‘Commando Duck’ in snippets and him wearing an armband with the swastika printed on it. He tries to comfort himself by saying, “I’m fine, I’m fine” repeatedly to himself and finally calms down.
Though all these arguments suggest that he had PTSD, Disney hasn’t acknowledged anything of this sort. Until then, it will just remain a very intriguing conspiracy and a subject of enigma to millions who watched and loved Donald Duck.